AMERICAN MOSAIC #813 - Intel Science Talent Search

By Nancy Steinbach

HOST:

Our VOA question this week comes from a listener in Japan. Fumio Nishimoto asks about the Intel Science Talent Search for young people.

The science talent search first began in Nineteen-Forty-Two as a way to get more American high school students involved in science. The competition was known as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search until Nineteen-Ninety-Eight.It is the oldest program in the United States that honors the science projects of high school students.

The program provides a way for American high school students to design and complete research projects. Well-known scientists judge the projects.The projects must show the use of reasoning skills and the scientific method.They can deal with any area of science, including chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, social science and biology.

The winners receive money for a college education and a new computer.Usually, more than one-thousand students enter projects for the competition each year. Forty students are invited to Washington, D.C. each spring for the final judging by scientists. They judge the students on their research ability and creative thinking. They also question the students about scientific problems before deciding on the top ten winners.

The Science Talent Search has given awards to more than two-thousand young Americans. It has provided more than five-million dollars in money for college. Ninety-five percent of the high school winners went on to study science in college. More than seventy percent earned high level degrees in science and medicine.

More than one-hundred winners of the world's most important science and mathematics honors took part in the science talent search when they were in high school. These honors include the National Medal of Science, MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Fields Medal and the Nobel Prize.The Intel Company says it wants to continue the program as a way to improve science, mathematics, engineering and technology education.